UN's Ban reiterates support to UN-backed Lebanon tribunal

UN's Ban reiterates support to UN-backed Lebanon tribunal

2011-01-11 00:45:34 GMT+7 (ICT)

UNITED NATIONS (BNO NEWS) -- The United Nations (UN) Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has reiterated his support for the UN-backed tribunal on the assassination of a former Lebanese minister.

The tribunal was established in order to find and prosecute those individuals responsible for the 2005 murders of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri and 22 others.

Ban reassured the UN's commitment during a meeting with the former PM's son and current Premier Saad Hariri. The Secretary-General also stressed the independence of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon and believes it will be successful.

The special tribunal was set up as an independent agency following an investigation by the International Independent Investigation Commission (IIIC). The international community immersed in the probe after the UN found that the Lebanese probe was flawed.

Hezbollah claimed that the UN-backed tribunal's probe is marred by witnesses who gave false information and urged the Lebanese government to deal with these 'false witnesses' in the tribunal.

Hezbollah Secretary General Al-Sayyid Hassan Nasrallah said last November that his group had no involvement in the murder of PM Hariri and added that they will not tolerate any accusation against any member or leader of the organization.

Ban and Hariri also discussed regional and other efforts to promote stability. In addition, the two leaders went over a number of aspects of Security Council resolution 1701, which ended the 2006 war between Israel and Hezbollah.

Other issues discussed included the Middle East peace process and the importance of the Arab Peace Initiative in the search for a resolution of the Arab-Israeli conflict.

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